Power-transmission mechanism



Sept. 23, 1952 KAMPER 2,611,886

POWER-TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Jan. 14, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 NEUTRAL 5g 53 GEAR i l l l'l l l -il j.

' mvavrok ANDREW M. kAMPfR QM Mug.

p 3, 1952 I I A. M. KAMPER 2,611,886 I POWER-TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Jan. 14, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 awn r04 A. M1 KAMPEQ Patented Sept. 23, 1 952 I PATE 2,611,886 r I I POWER-TRANSMISSIOhi MECHANISM i Andrew Mathis kamper, Coventry, England, ast signor to Humber Limited, Coventry, England,

aBritishcOnrpany 1 -Applicati on was, 1949, Serial No. 70,975

In Great Britain January14, 1948 6 Claims (01. 31815) This invention c oncern s'improvements in or relating to,power-transmission mechanisms intion-gear mounted for free rotation. For braking. of the reaction sun-gear, thev reaction sun-gear may be rotatable with a brake'plate, one face or which forms a friction surface for an electro-jj magnet acting to brake the reaction sun-gear through the brake plate.

corporating epicyclic gearing. j

The; main object oi the present invention is to provide such mechanisms with improved means for disconnecting the drive, I

The invention is especially but not exclusively concerned with the application of such a transmission'mechanism to the. drive of a'gear-shifting mechanism operated by an electric motor in 10 applied to a gearshifting n'nechaa nism for two; which rotation oi the motor to move the gearspeeds of a variable ratio gear-box fora motor shifting mechanism tothe difierent gear or neuvehicle. This example will be described with'ref-Q, tralfpositi'ons is effected under the control of a erence to the accompanying drawings in which: i limit s'witch in circuit with the motor. It is of Figure 1 is a sectional view of the mechanism, importance to ensure that the gear-shifting FigureZ is a diagram showing the electrical mechanism is stopped at the predetermined gear connections, and ornutralpositioh, The usual practice is to em- Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the ploy-frictional or electrical braking to stop the mechanism and the gears. motor from rotating when the limit-switch cuts 'Against the flat end walll of a shallow circular off theigupply of electric current. This has been casing 2 is fitted a reversible electric driving;

effected by a frictionalmag'netic clutch for brakmotor 3. The motor shaft 4 projects into the, g.- e m t r by a momentary reversing of casing through a central opening in the endwall. the {current' in the motor field windings. The On an inner portion of the projecting motor shaft effect of the braking is to absorb the inertia of the is keyed a boss 5 of a spider carrierfi fora series rotatingparts, suc'h'as the rotor of the motor, and the carrieran'd planetgars of the epicyclic gear train, but it is found that the precise position at which the 1 parts come to rest is indeterminate.

The power-transmission mechanism according to the present invention comprises an epicyclic gear train connecting driving and driven members, a rotatable reaction gear in the gear train,

an electrically-operated brake for braking the reaction gear to afford a drive between the mem-. bers through the gear train, and an electrical lim'it switch. controlled by rotation of one of the members for automatically effecting disengage ment of the brake so as to permit free rotation of the reaction gear and therebydisconnect the drive through the gear train.

In the application of the invention to gearshifting mechanisms, the limit-switch may be operated by the driven member to disengagethe Therewill now be described by way of one construction of power-transmission mecha -i nism in accordance with the present invention as of planet-gears I. The carrier boss is mounted for rotation with the motor shaft in a ball-bear ing 8 vfitted within the end wall of the housing. 1

rier. The number of teeth on the two gears and the diameters thereof are selected in accordance-f with the gear reduction required. The difference in the diameters of the two gears is small and, they have, for simplicity been shown as ofthe' same diameter which is not an operative arrangement. H The inner gears 9 of the planet pairs adjacent the carrier are in mesh with a sun-gear M at the,"

inner end of a driven shaft I 5 within the cas-J ing. This driven shaft is aligned with the driv-- ingjor motor shaft 4, and it is supported for rotafl tion within a ball-bearing lfi fitted in a cover-'1, plate l'lof electrical insulation material secured. l over the open end of the casing remote from the motor. ScrewsZO pass through a flange on-the, casinginto the flanged rim or the cover-plate in 1 order detachably to secure the cover-plate [in position with its rim around an annular spigot 2| on the face of thecasing. f Theend ofthe driven shaft. l5 within the eds inghas acounter-boreto receive the projectingend '22 of the driving shaft, which is here supbrake after a predetermined angular movement, of thedriven member or when the driven member reaches a'predetermined angular position corresponding to the desired position of the gears. In one construction of mechanism according to the invention, the epicyclic gear train comprises One or more pairs'of planet gears mounted to rotate asaunit on a carrier rotating with one member, one gear of each gear pair meshes with a sun-wheel fixed on the second membenand the second gear of the planet pair meshes with asecond' sun-gear, whichsec'ond sun-gear is a reaclarged rim 28 which projects into an annular-.-

space between the cover-plate l1 and the rim of the casing. In the rim of the casing is'an annular recess housing an electro-magnet 29. This electro-magnet is controlled by a limit-switch,

constituted by three fixed arcuate contact strips 30, 3|, 32 on the outer face of the cover-plate and co-operating spring-loaded steel ball contacts 33 carried by a gear-shifting lever 34 keyed on the driven shaft |5 externally of the casing and its cover. The three arcuate strips are concentric withthe driven shaft and the innermost strip 32. .isfidivided. into two electrically separated portionjsi" The 'two continuous contact strips 30, 3|

are,.in use, connected respectively in series with forwardlandreverse field windings 35, 3B of the motor 3 and are also both connected in series with. the coil 38 of a relay controlling the power supply tothe electro-magnet of the reaction gear brake 29. main. clutch, not shown. The two strips 30, 3|

} subtend approximately the same angle at the centre of curvature but are out of alignmentat their ends so that as the gear-shifting lever 34 is rotated in either direction it moves beyond the end ofone contact but maintains connection with the other. The third, divided, strip 32"has one portion in series with the forward field winding 35 and the other portion in series with the reversefield winding 36, ,the arrangement being that energisation of either portion causes the Thisrelay is also used to control a motor to rotate the arm towards the centre of the. strip. Both portions are in series with the relaycoil38. The ends of the strip 32 are in radial alignment with the outer limits of the continuous strips.

The complete assembly is bolted to the side of the gear-box casing, and the gear-shifting lever 34engages in a suitable slot 40 in the operating fork 4| of the gear-box. The fork 4| engages in a sliding dog-clutch member 42 which may be moved from the neutral position shown to clutch either the gear 43, which is integral with the driving shaft 44, to the driven shaft 45 thereby to provide a direct one to one ratio drive or to clutch the gear 46 to the driven shaft thereby to provide an indirect low ratio drive through the geartrain 40, 41, 48, 46. U I

In the operation of the device when it is desired to bring into operation a drive of one ratio power is supplied (e. g.,- by operation of one off'a pair .of push buttons 50, 5| which are appropriated to ;the two ratios and control relays 54,155) to one of the continuous contact strips 30, 3| which energises the motor for rotation in the appropriate direction and also energises the.

contact strip through which power is being supplied; This releases the brake and at the same tiniei 'cuts "ofixpower toithe motor. Ifit is then '4 desired to bring into operation the drive of the second ratio power is supplied (by operation of the other of the push buttons 50, 5|) to the other continuous strip which causes the motor to swing the arm back to the further limit where the contact ball runs 011' that strip. To move the gears intoaneutral. position poweris supplied to the divided strip-by operationlioflthe push .button 52 which causes the motor to rotate the arm to the centre position in which the ball contact lies between the two portions of the strip. Operation of the push-button 52 energises a relay 53 which breaks the .circuitsto the strips 30, 3|.

.When the brake is released the reaction sungear-is free to rotate and the gear-shifting lever stops almost instantaneously. The electric motor is then free to free-wheel to a stop without shock.

I claim:

'1. Driving mechanism-x comprising rotatable driving and driven .members,.a reversible elec-- tric motor with an operable connection for rotating the driving member in either direction 'of'ro tation, two motor-operating electric'circuitsand switch me'ans'for selectivelyenergizingthe motor to run in either direction, an epicyclic' gear train.-

connecting the driving and driven. members and including arotatable reaction gear. an electrically operable brake for braking the. reaction gear toaflord a drive between the driving and driven members through the gear'train, two limita switches one in. each of the two motor-operating circuits .and. appropriated to two end positions in the rotationof the drivenmember, a third limit-switch appropriated to an intermediateposition. in the. rotation of the driven member and having contacts in shunt circuits aroundthe aforesaid two limit-switches for operatingthe motor the two directions, means for automatically energizing the brake circuit to apply the brake when any of the motor operatingcircuits is energized and for deenergizing the brake circult when the'motor circuit is. broken, and a switch operating member movable with the driven member for operating the three .limit switches to break the motor circuit at the positions respectively corresponding to the end and intermediate positions of thedriven member to whichthe. switches areappropriated.

2..Driving mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which vthe-epicyclic gear train comprises a carrier rotatable withone of the driving and drivenmembers, at leastone pair of planet gears mounted on .thecarrier to rotate as a unit therewith, a sun-wheel fixedon the other of the driving and driven members and meshing with one of the pair of planet wheels, and in which the reaction wheel is constituted by a second sunwheelwhich meshes with the second of the pair of planet wheels and is mounted for free rotation.

3. Driving mechanism as claimed'in claim 2 in which. the brake for braking the reaction gear comprises an electro-magnet and a brake-plate which is rotatable with the reaction sun-wheel which. provides an armature for the magnet and which has a friction surface onone face for friction braking with the magnet when the armature is. attracted thereby;

4. Driving mechanismas claimed in claim in Whicheachend limit-switch comprises a." strip contact and. a moving contact movable relatively to thestrip contact by the-switch operating member,..the.s t rip contacthaving an-operative length and position. suchv that the: -movable contact makes electrical connection therewith. duringv the whole of the movement of the driven member until the end position is reached when the movable contact runs off the endoof the strip to break the circuit.

5. Driving mechanism as claimed in claim l in which the intermediate limit-switch comprises a pair of strip contacts in end-to-end relation with a gap between the ends and a moving contact movable relatively to the said pair of strip contacts by the switch operating member, the said pair of strip contacts being appropriated to the two end positions respectively and having operative lengths and positions such that the movable contact makes electrical connection during the whole of the movement of the driven member from each end position with the contact strip appropriated to that end until the movable contact runs off the strip into the gap between the pair of strip contacts to break the circuit.

6. Driving mechanism comprising a reversible electric motor having two field windings for forward and reverse rotation respectively, the motor constituting a driving member, two motoroperating electric circuits each containing one of the two field windings, switch means for se- I lectively energizing the two circuits, an oscillatable driven member, an epicyclic gear train connecting the driving and driven members and in-' eluding a rotatable reaction gear, an electrically operable brake for braking the reaction gear to afford a drive between the driving and driven members through the gear train, two limit- 6 switches one in each of the two motor-operating circuits and appropriated to two end positions in the rotation of the driven member, means for automatically energizing the brake circuit when either of the motor-operating circuits is energized and for disengaging the brake when the motor circuit is'broken and a switch operating member movable with the driven member to operate the two limit-switches respectively at the positions corresponding to the end positions of the driven member to which the switches are appropriated. r

ANDREWlVIATHIS KAMPER.

file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 20 Number Name Date 1,330,790 Dean Feb. 17, 1920 2,019,671 Gille et a1. Nov. 5, 1935 2,259,437 Dean -1001 21, 1941 2,272,934 Cotal Feb. 10, 1942 35 2,385,630 Lear Sept. 25, 1945 2,449,797 Waldie Sept. 21, 1948 2,499,166 Russell Feb. 28, '1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 30 Number Country Date 219,929 Great Britain Mar. 6, 1924 

